Quixotic
by thir13enth
Summary: Leaf dreams of Generation V, but Red isn't ready for the future. Black/Leaf Red/Leaf
1. Fear

**New story in a new realm. I don't really play Pokemon, but I was looking up some of the new species of Pokemon in Black and White, I got an idea. Thus, this piece.**

**First chapter is just like a prologue thing for the rest of the story; I felt the need to separate it from the rest of the text since it's written directly to the audience as opposed to third-person in the-okay, fine, I felt like it.**

**Also, Lux Aeterna for those who know.**

**Enjoy.**

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><p>It's amazing how people go to sleep. To think that people give in to their unconscious and submit to time. It's practically the same as death. Sleep is one of the greatest things to fear—people ignore the fact that they do not know whether or not they will ever awaken again.<p>

Oh but there's dreams you say? That make sleep all better? That allow you to know that you are still alive and breathing?

But you are wrong.

Dreams are one thin line away from being reality, but they are inexistent. Only inexistent in that they have never physically happened. But never doubt for a second that a dream hasn't happened.

Because they do, but in the mind.

Have you ever woken up from a dream that completely changed who you are? How you see things? How you see the people that you know?

Sleep is one of the greatest things to fear.

But dreams _are _the greatest thing to fear.

Dreams infect your mind.

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><p><strong>Midori Fujiwara<strong>


	2. Infection

**Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today.—James Dean**

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><p>"Leaf! Get into bed!" her mother called. It must have been the fourth time already.<p>

"Just a bit!" Leaf pleaded. There was so much more the world had to offer than sleep—she wasn't tired anyway, and she didn't know why her mother insisted that she go to sleep. Leaf motioned for Red to make his chess move.

"Move already! I want to finish the game before I have to go to sleep!" she told Red.

Red rolled his eyes and made a random move of his knight piece.

Leaf suddenly saw the perfect play and checked his king. Just a few more moves and he'd be cornered!

"Alright, you two," her mother sighed, walking into the living room. "Red, go home, your mom is calling for you. Leaf, clean up and get ready for bed."

"But Mom! I'm about to win!" Leaf complained.

"No you're not," Red denied.

Her mother cracked a smile. "You guys can continue tomorrow. Eleven year olds like you need sleep and rest so that you can grow to have healthy strong bodies."

"That's no fair! You and Dad get to stay up late!" Leaf protested.

"You can do that when you get older. We just have things to do."

Leaf was about to protest, but after seeing her mother raise an eyebrow, she complied.

"Bye Red!" Leaf said. "I'll wreck you tomorrow!"

"Can't wait to see you try," he waved goodbye, stepping out of the house.

Leaf jumped into bed and lay there awake before sleep consumed her.

_She woke up in a sea of green grass. The air was sweet, the sky blue, the clouds lacking hints of gray rain. Leaf felt like she had been here before, maybe she had dreamed of it before, or maybe this place had always been her dreamland._

_She raised her head first, looked at the clothing she was wearing—her regular shorts and shirt, red shoes snug over her feet. Then she lifted her torso with her hands and looked around._

_She was in the middle of grass somewhere and she saw no end to the vegetation except for some ledges to the left of her. And to the right—_

_A brown mass of fur tackled her down to the ground. She didn't know what it was or where it came from, but it was attacking her, and she needed her Charmander. Leaf reached down to look for her Pokeballs, but found none hanging from her belt._

_She was defenseless and nothing more to do, so she screamed._

"_Help!" she cried, "Oh my god, someone help me!"_

_When she didn't get a response from any benevolent seeming forces, she began to try to push the monster off her. But its claws were already sunk in the ground, and its teeth scratched her arm when she tried to cover her face. Leaf began to cry, she didn't know what to do anymore._

"_Snivy, use Vine Whip!" a voice called out._

_Leaf heard a crack and the furry mess that had attacked her pounced away. A hand greeted her, offering to help pull her up onto her feet. She took it, and saw herself facing a brown haired, brown eyed guy with a concerned frown and baseball cap on._

"_Are you okay?" he asked._

"_I'm fine…thank you for saving me! I don't have my Pokemon with me for some reason," she exclaimed._

"_Oh! You're a trainer too? Where are you from?"_

"_Pallet Town."_

_He wrinkled his nose. "Never heard of that place before. I guess I'll eventually get there once my Snivy and I are ready," he said, and a green Pokemon jumped to his side and bowed._

"_How cute!" Leaf cried out._

_He smiled sheepishly. "Sometimes I find myself training him things other than attacks."_

_Leaf touched the head of the green Pokemon. "A Snivy, you say? I've never heard of this Pokemon before." The head of the Snivy was scaly, smooth, and frighteningly sleek, reminding Leaf of some backyard Ekans._

"_Woah, hey, you should get that fixed," he said suddenly, pointing to the wound on her right arm. "Here, uh, walk with me. I'll take you to my mom; she'll be able to take care of that better than I can."_

_Leaf trailed behind him, but something remained on her mind. "Um…"_

"_Yeah?" he asked in a gentle voice._

"_Where are we?"_

_He cracked a smile. "We're on Route 1 right now, but um…" He pulled back some leaves to show her the view of a town and said, "Welcome to Nuvema!"_

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><p><strong>Alright, starting off slow...<strong>

**Midori Fujiwara**


	3. Spellcheck

**Re: xxxDawnGirl - This part of the story is actually too happy for my taste, but you'll see why it's a tragedy soon. Thanks for the review!**

**You see things; and you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say, 'Why not?' – George Bernard Shaw**

**Enjoy.**

**Midori Fujiwara**

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><p>"And checkmate, <em>baka<em>!" Leaf exclaimed. Red groaned. "But you put up a great fight until the end! I thought my plans would have been ruined when you put your rook there," Leaf said.

"Alright, alright, so I lost," Red admitted. He wasn't the type of give up a fight.

Leaf giggled in pleasure. But after seeing Red roll his eyes, she changed the subject. "I had the strangest dream last night!"

"Oh yeah?" Red asked, raising his eyebrows while putting away the chess board and pieces. "What was it about?"

"I don't know. Some kind of an alternate world or something," Leaf said. "There were weird Pokémon though, none like I've ever seen before...my imagination comes up with weird things at night, doesn't it?"

They started out of her house, beginning to walk over to some nearby grass to train their Pokémon.

"Well, what happened?" Red asked.

"I was attacked by something and a kid came to save me with his Pokémon. I don't really remember much else," Leaf replied.

"That kid was me wasn't it?" and Red grinned at her.

"No, you wouldn't help me at all," she retorted.

But she knew very differently.

"Hm," he said. "Oops!" And he pushed her into the nearby lake.

"Red!" she snarled angrily. "_Teme_!" She pulled herself out of the water, and then dragged him under with her.

Before she fell asleep that day, what she remembered best were the cheerful bubbles that escaped from Red and her mouth while they were underwater, laughing, and all she could really hope was that Red would be by her side forever.

He was her best friend.

**divider divider divider divider divider**

_"There, all better," the boy's mother said, while Leaf inspected her arm, all snug and warm under the bandages. "You can probably take it off by tomorrow even; just make sure you don't get an infection or anything."_

_"Thank you!" Leaf said._

_"So where are you from?" his mother asked._

_"Pallet Town!"_

_"Pallet Town?" his mother's face turned into one full of questions. "I've never heard of that place before...but then again, I was never the adventurous traveller." She turned to the brown haired, brown eyed kid. "Why don't you show her around town?"_

_"Alright," the boy agreed, and motioned for Leaf to come with him._

_He pointed to a large building up ahead. "That's where Professor Juniper usually is. She's the one who presented me with Snivy!"_

_"Oh... Snivy!" Leaf suddenly recalled. She looked down at her belt. She had her Pokémon this time! "I want to show you my Charmander!" she exclaimed. "Oh! We should have a practice battle!"_

_"Sounds cool," the boy said, and he brought Snivy out of his Pokeball while Leaf called out her Charmander._

_Charmander seemed dazed at the new surroundings and the curious looking Pokémon in front of him. It gave a few excited calls and charged at Snivy in hopes of making a new friend._

_Snivy yelped in fear and hid behind the boy's legs. The boy grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, i think Snivy's afraid of your Pokémon. It seems to be a fire type anyway."_

_"Oh...well, anyways, this is my Charmander."_

_"Never seen one before," the boy said. He looked to his left and saw a person walking out of the building they were headed to. "Oh! Professor Juniper!"_

_The person stopped and waved, regardless of the numerous files she held stacked in her arms. They raced over to greet her. She had light brown hair, green eyes, and wore much more colorful attire than Professor Oak did at a party._

_"Professor Juniper! This is uh..." the boy seemed to suddenly realize that they hadn't introduced themselves to each other yet."_

_"Leaf!" she said and smiled at the Professor._

_"Alright Leaf! I'm liking your Charmander there...where're you from? We don't see Charmanders much in this region."_

_"I'm from Pallet Town," Leaf replied. "I think it's kinda far from here since no one-"_

_"Oh! Give Professor Oak my regards when you return! In the meantime, enjoy Nuvema!" she turned suddenly to scold the boy. "Touya, you should be training so that you can venture out of here and whip trainer ass!"_

_"Yes, ma'am!" Touya said, though the added salute seemed to say, "I heard this a million times before..."_

_"Alright, kinda busy today, you know. Gotta work! See you around! And have fun!" Professor Juniper waved and was out of there within the next second._

_"Eh...she's right, I should be getting out of here soon. Want to go train with me?" Touya asked._

_"Sure," Leaf said._

_"Stay by my side alright? I don't want another mishap like last time you were out on Route 1."_

_"Always."_

**divider divider divider divider divider**

She awoke to Red throwing pebbles at her window. She stuck her head out of the window.

"It's already lunchtime, Leaf! Were you still sleeping?"

Noon? Leaf turned to the look at the clock. It was indeed 12:30! She didn't even go to sleep late!

Leaf and Red later went to Professor Oak's lab, arguing over whether a grass-type Pokémon would be weak or super effective against a water-type Pokémon.

"A water-type would flood the grass Pokémon!" Leaf argued. "Plants can't survive with too much water!"

The professor corrected her. "Grass-type Pokémon have the advantage. Plants are pretty hardy, you know, it's not like fire. Underwater plants exist too, remember?"

Red elbowed Leaf. "See?"

Leaf ignored his boost of self-esteem. "Professor, do you know a Professor Juniper?"

"Juniper?..." Oak asked, and Leaf could tell he had never heard of her.

"Never mind," Leaf said. It was just a dream. Touya and Professor Juniper didn't exist...

"Oh! Could I take a look through the Pokedex, Professor?" Leaf asked. Maybe the Professor forgot his acquaintances or something.

"Right! Actually, I almost forgot but I was going to give these Pokedex to you guys for your upcoming journeys. I want you guys to help me complete them, and get better pictures and descriptions of the Pokémon! It'd be a great favor to do while you guys are moving forward and getting badges. Killing two birds with one stone!"

"Yup, okay!" Red agreed, and Leaf thanked the Professor.

Leaf later shuffled through the Pokedex, pausing the chess game Red had started. He was convinced he'd win this time around.

She typed in 'SNIVY', but no results came.

Nor did any results show up for 'SNIVEY."

Or 'SNIVI.'

"Hm..." Leaf pondered. "Red, what are some other ways to spell Snivy?"

"S-N-I-V-I-E?" he suggested.

No results found.

Leaf's brow wrinkled and her mouth twisted into a side frown.

"What's wrong?" Red asked, going over to her side. "Oh wait a second, this isn't about your dream world is it?"

"No!" Leaf refuted. "Well...yes."

"It was a dream," Red said.

"Yeah, but I don't dream that intricately!" Leaf said, "It's like the dream created itself!" She pulled out a pen and took a scrap piece of paper out, drawing a sketch of what she remembered of the Pokémon Snivy. "See? Have you ever seen anything like this before..." Leaf asked, but her question faded as she failed to draw Snivy. She didn't quite fully remember what it looked like.

"Yeah, see?" Red pointed out. Trying to change the subject, he said, "Come on, let's finish the game!"

"No wait...I'll remember, hold on," Leaf said.

"It was just a dream, Leaf!" Red repeated.

Leaf looked down her eye furrowed. "I don't know, Red. It felt way too real to be a dream."

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><p><strong>I guess I was too lazy to encrypt the dividers with song lyrics or other things this time. :P<strong>

**Midori Fujiwara**


	4. Asleep

"**No dreams, no visions, no delicious fantasies, no castles in the air, with which, as the old song so truly says, 'hearts are broken, heads are turned'." – William Osler**

**So begins the actual story...**

**Enjoy.**

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><p>"Red?" Leaf asked, once the fire by their campfire went out on its own.<p>

"Hm?" was his half-awake response.

"Have you ever had a dream that continued the next night?"

He turned over in his half consciousness. "Probably," was the slurred response. "Go to sleep, Leaf," he said later. "We have to get to Pewter City by tomorrow."

Leaf shifted to a more comfortable sleeping position. She held her eyes open for a while but later forced herself back to sleep.

It was about a week and she didn't have one trace of dream. That was actually sort of normal for her, but ever since she had gotten a dream about Touya and his Snivy and his world, she had always somewhat looked forward to going to sleep and dreaming.

Her mother complemented that Leaf was getting more and more responsible now, for going to sleep on her own accord.

Except Leaf woke up every morning after that to be disappointed that she hadn't dreamed. And each day began to feel incomplete to some extent. It was great that Red and Leaf hung out so much, best friends forever, and she was overexcited to finally move out of Pallet Town to get her first badge with Red by her side.

But something was missing.

She had tried to talk herself out of the fact that it was just a dream, but her eyes were always searching for a person that looked like Touya or a Pokémon that even slightly resembled the Snivy she remembered.

Tonight, she would attempt to recall those memories back, and tonight, she would dream of Nuvema Town. The last she saw of Touya was when they were off to train…

**dayandnight**

But she woke up without a dream to remember.

Leaf and Red finally got to Pewter City and found out where the gym was. Red and Leaf were both glad they made it this far and decided to train a bit more before entering the gym, but while training, Red noticed Leaf's spaciness from afar.

Leaf's Charmander was slowly fainting because of another Bug Poison Pokémon, and after encountering a Pidgey, her Charmander was about to faint. Leaf only had a half-fainted Caterpie she had caught from before and that wouldn't fare well against the Bird Pokémon.

Red threw an empty Pokeball at the Pidgey Leaf was fighting to distract the Pidgey. By the time the Pidgey escaped from the ball, Red had fled his own battle and got his Squirtle to take the enemy Pidgey down. He decided to capture it too, since he had already wasted a Pokeball on it, and added a new Pokémon to his party.

Leaf returned her Charmander and looked down.

Red was angered at first. "Leaf, you almost whited out!" But after seeing her unchallenging and unfazed gaze, he asked, "Are you okay, Leaf?"

"Yeah, yeah," Leaf said, blinking. "Let's just go to the Pokémon Center to rest a bit."

This they did and while waiting for Red's party to heal, Red sat down by Leaf on a bench just outside the Center.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"I know you better than that."

Leaf shook her head, "You wouldn't want to hear."

Red's facial expression seemed to doubt that. "I'll listen to anything."

"No," Leaf said. "Just don't worry about it."

He pursued. "Tell me."

Leaf stared off at the city around her.

Red breathed in and suppressed a sigh. He walked back into the Pokémon Center and attempted to ask Leaf again.

"No, let's just go back to training."

"Not before you let me know what you're thinking."

"We're wasting time."

"I can wait forever," he said, and his eyes met hers.

Leaf broke the eye contact first, folding her hands together and looking at her feet.

"It's nothing big. Or important. I'm just not dreaming anymore, that's all."

Red thought a moment, and Leaf knew that he wasn't pleased to hear the whole dream thing come up again.

"I know that you feel your dream was real. And I'll let you enjoy that when you sleep. But don't let…one world prevent you from enjoying another." He continued, "I'll listen to your adventures and stories from your dreams but don't forget about the one you're living."

Leaf was silent for a long moment, but then agreed.

"Alright," she said. "I'm going to forget about all that. It's just my imagination." She got up. "Let's go train for another round and then get our first badge."

And they did get the Boulder Badge.

As well as the Cascade Badge.

And later the Thunder Badge.

By now, her Charmander had become a Charmeleon.

When she exited the Celadon City gym with a Rainbow Badge in her hands, they embraced victoriously.

"We'll be together to the very end, _sou dayo ne_?" Red said.

"Yes," she replied.

But that night she had a dream.

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><p><strong>Drop off a review? They are the food of the writer. :D<strong>

**thir13enth**


	5. Melting

"**You know somebody, and they cry for you. They stay awake at night and dream of you. I bet you never even know they do, but somebody's crying for you."—Anonymous**

**Thank you alerters, favoriters, and reviewers!**

**As a really quick disclaimer, I actually don't really play Pokemon and don't know anything about Pokemon Black. I just learned stuff from random Wiki articles and other things like that. Forgive me if I make a mistake or have interpreted something wrong!**

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><p>"<em>Leaf!"<em>

_Leaf turned, "Touya!"_

"_Come help me out!"_

_She ran to his side, and saw three others opposite him. They wore uniforms that had a shield like symbol on them._

"_You're too weak that you have to call in your friend to help?" one of them taunted and laughed._

_Touya whispered into her ear, "I defeated one of their team members with one Pokémon and no damage on me. But they attacked me while I was training and blocked off the Pokémon Center, so it's just my Servine and Joltik! And it's three people against one!"_

"_I'll help you out!" Leaf said, "My Pokémon party is still good!" She looked at the three menacing figures. It was probably going to take more than her Pokémon to defeat them; and she didn't even see or hear of any of the Pokémon they held._

"_What Pokémon do you have left again?" Leaf asked Touya._

"_A Joltik. But she's practically one away from fainting."_

"_What is that—"_

"_Sandile! Use Assurance!" an enemy said._

_Servine dodged but another Pokémon blocked him from running away._

"_Servine, jump out of there!" Touya cried._

"_Charmeleon, make a fire wall!" Leaf commanded, and made a fiery barrier around the Servine._

_Servine was fearful of the surrounding flames, knowing that they would knock him out in one shot._

"_Sorry!" Leaf said._

"_No," Touya said, "Don't apologize….I have an idea."_

_They consulted ad then Touya withdrew Servine, later calling out Joltik. Joltik was told to make a web around the opponent Pokémon._

"_Just binding our Pokémon together isn't going to work!" another opponent said._

"_Not just binding," Leaf replied, and when Joltik finished her web, Leaf held the end of the strand in front of Charmeleon's snout. "Alright, Charmeleon! Fire stream!"_

_And the flames trailed down the web and surrounded the three Pokémon in flames. The Pokémon couldn't escape from the strong web in time and all fainted before they could get the fire off them._

"_Shit!" one of the opponents said, and one of the more crafty ones called out, "Simipour! Use Jet Stream!"_

_Leaf knew that was her Charmeleon's weakness. She fumbled for another one of her Pokémon and for Charmeleon's to retrieve him, but Touya reacted first._

"_Servine! Protect Charmeleon with a screen! Joltik, electrify that water Pokémon!"_

_Leaf saw the water shoot onto Servine's strong defensive shield and reflect in all different directions. The water sprinkled all over the place, making rainbows. Leaf laughed in delight._

"_Servine, finish that Simipour with a Vine Whip!" Touya shouted._

_Right, grass type had the advantage over water type. Just like Professor Oak had said._

_His Servine finished the Pokémon and the three opponents took the chance to flee._

_Touya smiled back at Leaf. "Alright! We did it! Thank you so much!"_

"_No, it was your quick thinking. We just worked together, that's all," Leaf said._

"_Well then, good teamwork!" Touya exclaimed. "Come on! Let me go heal my Pokémon right quick before I get attacked by another one of those buffoons again."_

"_Who were they?"_

_Touya shrugged. "I don't really know. They call themselves Team Plasma. They have a leader and his name is N. I don't know much else about them or their objectives, but Professor Juniper told me about them once," he explained, kicking around a rock. "She said they just had a twisted perspective or something. Hypocritical too, if I recall correctly."_

"_Hm," Leaf said._

"_I'll find out one day," Touya promised. "While I take down the rest of them you'll be by my side right?"_

"_Always."_

**divider divider divider divider divider**

Leaf awoke with a start. It was the crack of dawn but she had to get this down.

It had been three years since she'd last seen him.

Touya.

And it seems his Snivy had evolved into a…Servine was it?

She lit a candle and pulled out an old paper from her bag.

She added a quick sketch of Servine next to the sketches of Snivy she had drawn that long ago.

Red's sleeping bag moved in the corner of the tent. He got up, abruptly. "Woah, Leaf, what are you doing with the candle. It's in the tent! You might burn the whole thing—"

"We were fighting off Team Plasma! And we're going to go up to N later on and tell him that he's not doing any good!" Leaf exclaimed.

"_Nani?_" Red asked. "What nonsense is this? It's Team _Rocket_ and _Giovanni_. Team Plasma? I've never heard—"

"_Iie, _Red! In my _dream_!" Leaf explained.

All they heard next was the flicker of the candle flame.

"Leaf."

Leaf looked down.

"Leaf, I thought I told you to forget—"

"You told me you'd listen, Red," Leaf interrupted.

Red shifted his gaze to the opening of their tent.

"So," he said after a moment. "What was Team Plasma trying to do?"

**divider divider divider divider divider**

Two years later, she woke up, bothered.

She didn't see Touya last night.

It was another day of training her Pokémon, regardless.

That day, Red turned sixteen, a few months before she would.

They celebrated with cake and she told him to make a wish.

Red stared a long while, and all they could hear were the candle flames dancing off the air.

Leaf looked down, waiting patiently.

"What's wrong, Leaf?" he asked.

She looked up at him, his face illuminated by candle light. "I don't know what you're talking about," Leaf said. He was always so concerned about her now…"

"I don't know," he said, pausing, "You don't seem yourself. You haven't seemed yourself…for a while."

Leaf wanted the moment to pass. How she wanted to tell him…so much…about everything.

Red waited, but the candle wax was destroying the letters on the cake.

'Happy' was already melted into distortion.

"I wish…" he started. But couldn't continue and took his eyes off hers and walked off to sit by himself.

Watching his figure grow small in the distance, Leaf stared at the vigilant flames until her tears let her see no more.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading! Hope to hear from you guys!<strong>

**thir13enth**


	6. Facade

"**A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world."—Oscar Wilde**

**Thank you to the people that have put this story on their alerts! Also for my precious reviewers, a great deal of gratitude for supporting this story as it goes on! You guys mean a whole lot to me! **

**Again, I want to state that no, I do not know anything about the storyline behind Pokemon Black/White, but I have read a bit and interpreted it from there on. So….this is probably going to end up being a lot different from what is actually in the game, but hell, it's fanfiction; and I know guns aren't exactly part of the Pokémon world.**

**Now, on with the chapter.**

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><p>"<em>You don't understand anything, you arrogant brat! You may have come here to beat the shit out of my Pokémon but you don't get a single thing!" a male yelled from across the room at Touya. "Pokémon are not ours to domesticate and enslave!"<em>

"_That's one thing to say when you have your own set of Pokémon to fight me with! And who says they're enslaved?" Touya shouted back. "Pokémon are friends! I know that _I_ don't use them for purposes other than what's ethical!"_

"_Oh you don't even know. Pokémon are better off untouched by humans! There're studies! There's research! They are healthy and much more significantly happier when they aren't captured by us! I'm so sympathetic to my Pokémon whenever I have to return them to their Pokeballs, their cages! I do that as little as possible!"_

"_But that doesn't mean you go stealing and freeing other people's Pokémon! That's even worse for the Pokémon who loves his or her owner! Pokémon and humans _can _live together. It's not like we're parasites! You can't segregate Pokémon from humans. We coexist! And if anything, we can't live on their land and take their food while we put them in a reservoir somewhere!"_

"_It's better for them."_

"_Not even! Those reservoirs treat the Pokémon like unwanted…monsters! Pokémon are not from another world. They were here with us, and they should be here with us to stay! N! I want all those reservoirs, those fucking prisons, closed! Pokémon can be wild! We won't tamper with them but placing them in jails is going way beyond what is ethical. It doesn't make sense! The segregated Pokémon are miserable! They may not completely understand us, but they do have feelings and you can't deny that!"_

"_You don't know when to shut up, kid," N said._

"_I'm not done yet. And you know why your Pokémon are so much stronger than mine but mine beat you in a flash? It's because my Pokémon trust me, and yours are so damn frightened of you they barely listen to you. They can smell of the blood of their friends on your dirty hands!"_

"_I don't kill the fucking Pokémon! It's not my problem if the people running the reservoirs are being ruthless idiots to the Pokémon!"_

"_But you oversee them, don't you?" Touya asked quietly. "You know that you have the power to stop them but you don't, you sadistic bastard. And that's why I'm standing before you today. At least I try to stop the injustice when I see it."_

_N was about to protest, but Touya stopped him._

"_Let's make this decision easier," Touya said, and he clicked his gun._

_N rose his hands in surrender. "Woah, I don't know what you're doing with that—"_

"_What did you say about the reservoirs?"_

"_I…I'll—"_

"_Shut them down right?" Touya suggested._

"_Yeah, yeah, anything you say…"_

"_I want to hear you say it," Touya explained calmly._

"_I'll shut them down!" N said._

"_The what?"_

"_The reservoirs!"_

"_That's not a complete sentence."_

"_I'll shut the reservoirs down! Okay! Put the gun down!"_

"_I'll come back for you if I hear otherwise," Touya warned._

"_Right, no problem! I'll shut the reservoirs down! Just—"_

"_Now, you're catching the drift," Touya smiled. He turned to walk out of the room when he saw Leaf. "Oh, Leaf! When did you get there! I already got N taken care of!"_

_Leaf smiled up at him. "You're so brace, Touya," she said simply. "I'm proud of you." _

_Touya shrugged. "Well Pokémon are my best friends...well besides people. I have to help them, don't I?" He was about to take her up into a hug but seeing the gun, she pushed herself away._

"_That's real, isn't it?" Leaf said, backing away._

_Touya put his fingers on his lips. "Nope," he whispered. "Shh…"_

_Leaf almost couldn't contain her laughter._

"_What? People do things when they think their life's in danger," Touya defended._

_Leaf couldn't break down her smile._

_Touya nudged her. "I knew you'd support my methods. You're always by my side aren't you?"_

"_Always."_

**who'sgonnasavetheworldtonight?whosgonnabringitbacktolife?**

"We defeated N, Red!" Leaf said happily as they were eating breakfast.

Red said nothing but smiled at her.

She knew it was a fake smile.

"Are you even listening?" she asked him.

"Yeah," Red answered. "But I'm not understanding."

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><p><strong>Your turn: reviews?<strong>

**thir13enth**


	7. Falling

"**Some colors exist in dreams that are not present in the waking spectrum."—Terri Guillemets**

**Well I have to thank the readers and reviewers for having brought the story this far! Thank you all for the ongoing support! Reading those reviews really makes my day: you guys are awesome!**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>She decided that she would have Red understand, and bought a camera the next day from the store. Red didn't question it but restocked on Pokeballs.<p>

They had dinner with one of the friends they had made on their journey.

Leaf picked at the meat on her plate.

Red tapped her foot underneath the table. She looked up and he raised an eyebrow.

She shook her head.

He tilted his head to one side and closed his eyes, later opening his eyes in a question.

She nodded.

Before she got up and left the table, she stopped her by placing his hand over one of hers.

"You're always sleeping so early now," Red said. "Remember when we used to want to stay up late?"

Leaf knew what was coming next. Now he'd bother her about how she was always tired but always slept for so long.

"Is there something wrong with the food?" their hosts asked.

"No, no, absolutely not," Red laughed as if nothing was wrong. "It's been a long day for us, and you know, sleep beats food."

"Understandable, don't feel bad for leaving anything on the plate!" one host said.

"Yes, please rest instead," said another.

Red looked at Leaf's eyes and wished her good night. Her eyes met his, and she felt the urge to explain something to him, but she didn't think she was capable of doing so, and went off to bed.

**something happened to my divider so this is just filler **

"_Touya, smile for the camera," Leaf said, pointing the lenses at him._

"_No, no, no, no," he declined, putting his hand over the shutter. "Where'd that come out of anyway?"_

"_I bought it," she said. She gave him a frown-y face. "Please? Just one picture at least?"_

_It didn't take long for Touya to comply, "Alright, ok, come here."_

_He took the camera and pointed it at himself and her. Putting his arm around her shoulder, he said, "Alright, smile for the camera…"_

_Touya returned the camera and then stood a while to the side thinking. "Come with me. I got a better place to take pictures of."_

_She took his hand and they walked off through cave tunnels until they reached a ledge, a cliff._

"_Here," he said, sitting down on the grass and motioning for her to do the same. "I got lost up on this mountain and found this place. It's pretty neat. I hung out here and saw the sunset. It's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen."_

"_Where are the other beautiful places you've been?" Leaf asked._

"We_'ve been," Touya corrected. "You're been with me every step of the way." He looked at her a while. "It's not just places that are beautiful, you know?"_

_Leaf looked away, heat rising on her face but she tried to suppress her heart's wild beating._

"_You know, Leaf. I've known you since we were eleven…we're like seventeen now so that'd make like six years. Six years I've known you and six years I'm still wondering where you're from, and six years I still don't know who you are."_

_Leaf cautiously turned her head to his direction and met Touya's eyes._

"_Six years," he repeated softly, and looked off to the right, away from her. "Oh, here, it's starting."_

_She watched the sun light twist into various shades of gold, fire, and dandelion as further remnants of sun flecks were swallowed up into ice, lavender, and night._

_Her heart swirled accord the sunset when he accidently rested his hand over hers, and kept it there._

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><p><strong>I think it's fair to say that the story is about half way through...<strong>

**Now to get back to the newest anime I'm watching: Darker than Black! :DDDD**

**thir13enth**


	8. Empty

"**I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man."—Zhuang Zi**

**Short chapter this update. I want to thank all the readers and supporters; you guys really seem to be enjoying the story, and it just makes my day to get emails with like FF+Story Alert or FF+Favorite Alert or FF Review Alert! I wake up to those and it feels like I've done good work, lmao! I'm so glad you guys find this piece 'original'; crack fics are something on the spurt of the moment!**

**Anyways, enough about me. My plants are doing fine and I still have two quarters in my sweater pocket.**

**Enjoy.**

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><p>"Leaf, can I ask you something?" Red asked, his breath tickling her left ear.<p>

Leaf closed her eyes. No, she didn't want this moment to end. Not like this when she was comfortable in his lap, his arms around and protecting her. Not like this when she had woken up in a cold sweat from an eerily dreamless night and he was comforting her. Not like this when they were about to see the rising sun.

She opened her eyes, to a glowing pink at the horizon. "Okay," she agreed.

"In your dreams…" he started. "Who…who's 'we'?"

Leaf's warmth turned into a rock hard shudder. A chill suddenly separated her from his embrace.

"A friend," she said. Then after a while: "A very good friend."

Red said nothing but she felt him hold his breath.

"The same guy right?" Red said, after a long time. "The one…you told me about…six years ago?"

Leaf didn't answer. She knew that Red knew.

She didn't think she could admit it to herself yet.

His lips grazed her jawline and she watched the sun unfold. All she could think about was how much as wanted the days to just pass. And as much as she wanted time to go, she also wanted some moments, she realized, to last forever.

**itsinyoureyes**

She decided not to tell him anymore about her dreams. She decided that those were things better kept to herself. She decided he would be more and more hurt if she continued to do so.

She also didn't tell Red that she was starting to think that he was right. She had gotten a pit deep feeling that Red was right from the start, that she should have just left her dreams alone and that she should have just forgotten about it all.

Leaf flipped through her empty camera.

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><p><strong>thir13enth<strong>


	9. Surface

"**I'm a dreamer. I have to dream and reach for the stars, and if I miss a star then I grab a handful of clouds."—Mike Tyson**

**To dewdrop6: Wow, you're a pretty dedicated anonymous reader! I write review replies to anons onto the next chapter occasionally but I never quite hear back from the readers! Anyways, I'm super glad you're reading this and have managed to keep up without use of like story alerts or something; it kinda touches me! Yes, empty cameras :(. All memories lost. If you're reading this dewdrop6, I really appreciate the reviews and the words of encouragement!**

**Thank you my other reviewers as well! You guys should have my review replies in your inboxes and if not...then...I've just been slacking or something. Actually, let me reply to your reviews while I'm still here:**

**To ScotSniper: Yep, :(. Though I can't say the same if the camera had no canister; that would just be a mystery altogether o_O.**

**To Unknownlight: Thanks for reading ghosts n stuff! I replied to the review on that one but not this one, in any case, your curiosity will be relished in any second. There's like three or four chapters left for this story.**

**And anything else? Not really, my life's been a drag and I haven't been doing much more than cleaning and other stuff (I do like a clean place to live-I don't really care for whether it's disorganized, it just shouldn't have crumbs or dust or other crap around). But hm...my houseplants haven't been looking too good, they're getting kinda edgy and I think that was because I forgot to water them recently. I have to change the pots on one of them; she's getting quite large.**

**Anyways, enjoy!**

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><p>Ever since Red had asked her about her dreams, Touya hadn't shown up in the night. She didn't dream about him and his Servine and his world for a long time. In the long time, life went on, and Leaf and Red earned their eighth badge and were about to take on the Elite Four. Charmeleon evolved into a strong and handsome Charizard, and Leaf had turned eighteen.<p>

She never forgot about Touya, but she tried not to think of him or his Servine or his world. Leaf found it hardest to forget about him when the sun was setting, and though she wanted very much to just go to sleep with the last rays of the day's sun, she knew better than to upset Red with her old habits.

He never said or expressed it, never anything about her dreams, but she knew he was hurting very much.

He knew her disappointed face in the mornings when he kissed it because she hadn't dreamed that night. He knew that the world she was living didn't seem to be complete. He knew that she felt like her better life was in her dream.

And she felt like shit because she also knew that Red was aware he was competing for her love with a person of her dreams. She loved Red, she truly did, but she wanted more to her reality than just his love.

She wanted to explore places with Red, go on wild adventures with Red, be together madly in love with Red.

They were doing all that.

But for some reason, in her dreams, it was better.

**wanderingunderblackskies**

Convinced that there had to be Snivy somewhere, she took flight on Charizard when she awoke very early one morning while the stars were still out.

Charizard objected to flying past the shore of the land she knew but she believed that Touya was just across the vast ocean.

She flew for what seemed like eternity, but all she saw for miles out was black, wrinkled sea.

She flew onwards and to pass the time she remembered the times when Touya and her hand flown so far up into the sky, that they could see all of Unova. She recalled his warm steady touch on her back, making sure she wouldn't fall.

"Remember Touya?" she asked her Charizard. "Don't you remember seeing all of Unova? It was all under _your_ wings, Charizard, remember?"

Charizard whimpered, scared that it wouldn't find a plot of land to rest on when his energy expired.

"Don't worry," she cooed. "We'll get there…it's just a bit farther ahead…"

But she soon became so occupied looking ahead that she didn't notice her slow descent.

Charizard's flamed tail skimmed the surface of the ocean and with that, his light went out, and he weakened to the water's dark shadow.

She fell.

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><p><strong>Up up and away! See you later! I hope to see reviews!<strong>

**thir13enth**


	10. Breakdown

"**The world of men is dreaming, it has gone mad in its sleep, and a snake is strangling it, but it can't wake up."—David Herbert Lawrence**

**Normally I'd compose a few author notes to put in here to waste your time and take up space, but I'm not feeling too talkative right now, so I'll save the paragraphs for later.**

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><p>She awoke to Red, who was half in tears and beyond worried.<p>

"Oh my god, oh my god," Red gasped as she gasped for air, and he held her tight in his arms. "I thought I was going to lose you. I thought I was going to lose you…" He ran his hands up and down her face, kissing her again and again, as if he had to be 100 percent sure that she was real, and not a dream.

**nocontrollefttolose**

Red didn't know what to say anymore, but he never left her side for the remainder of that day.

Tentatively, she asked him how he knew where she was.

"You told me Unova was probably just across the ocean," he replied. "I saw the blue moon with a shadow of you and your wings. I thought you'd never come back."

Leaf leaned against him, putting her face into the crook of his neck. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," she apologized over and over. "I was out of my mind. I won't do it again."

Red took her up again in her arms, clothing still damp from the swim and held her.

"I don't want to lose you," he said, but his steady voice cracked. "I don't understand."

"I'm going to stop it all," Leaf said. "I promise." By now, her throat held a thick ball of guilt and tears. "I promise," she repeated.

"You're so disconnected," he said, and a tear rolled off his face to land on her cheek. "You're not yourself anymore. You never were…I can't make you happy anymore."

**seungri**

Red rented a hotel room for her to stay in while he went to defeat the Elite Four.

She woke up in this room and went down to the lobby to bid Red good luck. He was off on his way, and later she encountered a friendly scholar who was waiting for her own boyfriend to come back from his Pokémon challenge.

"Ah, you have a Pokedex as well," Leaf commented.

"Yeah," the girl blushed. "Research is pretty much my life."

Leaf smiled. "Tell me," she said. "Have you ever heard of a Snivy? Or maybe even a Lillipup? Or maybe a Joltik?"

The scholar's face turned into a question mark. "No, I haven't…I, uh, thought I completed the Pokedex…"

"Add more entries when you go to Unova," Leaf said. She pulled out a picture, an old wrinkled one of her sketches of Snivy and Servine. "See, this is Snivy, and that is Servine," she explained. "You can ask Professor Juniper about them when you to Nuvema Town."

The scholar seemed to grow uncomfortable. Perhaps in her ignorance? "Oh yes, Nuvena Town," she agreed.

"No, no Nuvena," Leaf corrected. "Nu_vem_a."

"Right, right," the scholar said, looking around. "Uh…I'm planning to take a vacation there soon!"

"You know how to get there?" Leaf exclaimed, jumping up and placing both hands on the girl's shoulders. "How? Tell me!"

"Um…I don't know, my boyfriend will be buying the tickets," the scholar answered.

"Let me know when he comes back from his challenge okay?" Leaf said, suddenly yawning.

Sunset.

It was about time.

Leaf headed back up to her room and didn't notice the scholar pointing her out to one of the hotel employees behind her back.

**blackskies**

"_Hey," Touya called, hand on her shoulder._

_She turned around, and they embraced. "Congratulations! That was fast!"_

"_Yeah, it wasn't that big of a deal. My Serperior knocked a lot down. I kinda over trained my Pokémon, I guess, most of the Pokémon were lower levels than—"_

"_Stop talking," Leaf interrupted, and she closed her eyes and brought herself in, her lips molding over his._

_He was surprised and tense at first but he quickly got into the flow, raising his arms up around her and his right hand caressing the back of her neck while she leaned more into her. She felt his tight back muscles unwind under her touch, and the kiss! The kiss was soft, sweet, sensual, straight from the heart, she knew._

_She had a déjà vu._

_This kiss was Red's first all over again._

_But it was better._

_So much better._

_So much more real._

**howcouldyoudothistoher?**

Leaf's moment was disrupted when loud knocks hammered on her door. When she opened the door, she discovered that she was being taken out of the hotel.

She screamed and demanded why, saying that she had all rights to remain in the room.

"I want to go back to sleep!" she complained, but she was forced to sit in an empty white room and told to wait.

Red walked into the white room later.

She stood up to embrace him. "Oh Red, did you finish off the Elite Four?"

"No," was his answer.

She tried to make the embrace more comfortable, but Red wasn't cooperating. "How come?" she asked, concerned.

"I was interrupted…had to take care of something else first…the hotel manager came out to get me."

"How rude of him!" Leaf agreed. "They pulled me out of my room!"

"I heard," Red simply said. He finally returned her hug and whispered into her ear. "Promise me that you'll stay in your room the rest of today and tomorrow? You can sleep if you want; there's not much else to do…and the mattresses are great."

Leaf nodded. "Mhm."

"Okay, come on, I'm going to get your room back for you."

"Thank you, Red," Leaf said.

And she said the same when he dropped her back into the hotel room.

"I love you!" Leaf added before he shut the door and smiled back with a phantom of sadness.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading and being such a great support!<strong>

**thir13enth**


	11. Realize

"**Love is an attempt to change a piece of a dream-world into reality." Henry David Thoreau**

**Thank you guys so much for the reviews! I'm basking in vain glory (well that's a bit of an exaggeration) right now! This story isn't too popular but it for sure has the most loyal group of reviewers I've ever experienced in this fandom. :D**

**And WOW I'm writing this while the sun is still up. It feels so weird to be in a different light!**

**Heads up to Duosharp for catching the grammatical mistake I made and just fixed before replacing this chapter's contents over!**

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><p><em>They just kissed again and again and again…<em>

**facedown**

Red came back, victorious from defeating the Elite Four. Leaf whooped with joy and embraced him, saying that she had always known he could do it, from the very start.

"Leaf, are you going to kick Elite Four ass now?" he asked.

Leaf considered. "No," she said wistfully. "I'm satisfied with how I am right now."

"You used to be more competitive, you know," Red said, almost thoughtlessly.

Leaf took back her arms and cut the embrace.

"Well, I've changed," she said simply.

It was centuries before Red responded.

He broke down, after seven years.

"Leaf….I can't…I'm…I've been so _lonely_," he finally said. He slumped down to the floor, back against the wall. "I've been with you all this time…you've been the closest, dearest person to me. I've been waiting for what seems like forever—all I want are my feelings reciprocated…can…I just ask that?"

Leaf took a moment to reply.

She did so angrily. "Why can't you be more like him?"

"Like who? The man of your dreams?" Red's sorry turned into flames. "And _only_ of your dreams? Leaf I'm so sick of—"

"He's not demanding like you are! And I've been nothing but happy when I'm with him! He's so much more tolerant!"

"He's not real!"

"He's more real than you are!"

Time stopped.

"What?" Red asked quietly, breathlessly in disbelief.

Leaf practically whimpered as she repeated it. "He's more real…than you are." She saw the weight and fell to the floor with the gravity of her words.

Red's face contorted into grief and mental anguish and he shook his head. "Oh god, no, no, I'm sorry," he apologized and went over to the hysterically sobbing Leaf. "Stop crying, oh god, I'm so sorry…"

Leaf shook her head and pointed at herself.

"No, no, no," Red said. "I shouldn't have brought it up." He kissed her cheek. "I should be stronger for you."

This only made her cry harder. "I can't…I can't let go of him," she sobbed. "And I promised!"

"Sh, sh, sh…" Red said, rocking her and cradling her against him. "It's not your fault…it's not your fault…"

**strobe**

Pallet Town.

Home.

Leaf found it hard to sleep at night. She didn't want to destroy Red any more than he was broken already. She spent all night worrying about him.

She spent all day worrying about him.

He gave her a sleeping pill to let her go to sleep, telling her she had to get sleep and to stop crying over him.

He told her that he was fine and that everything was okay. She had to just sleep now and let it all pass instead of replaying it over and over in her head.

She listened to him, and drank the medication to her first sleep in a few days since Red had defeated the Elite Four.

She fell asleep by the time Red walked out of her home, who noticed seven years of dust blanketed over the unfinished chess game they had left.

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><p><strong>thir13enth<strong>


	12. Awake

"**For a dreamer, night's the only time of day."—From the movie Newsies**

**Well. I guess, this is it, peeps. I want to thank again all the support that I've gotten throughout these summer months posting this story, had some very loyal readers and some great feedback that just made me what to come back and write more. I'm nothing without y'all.**

**Anyways, enjoy: the end.**

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><p><em>Touya.<em>

_That day, they travelled everywhere they didn't, turning over rock after rock. They kissed when there was time, in lieu of adventure._

"_You know what I want?" Leaf said to Touya when they were nuzzling._

"_Hm…" Touya said._

"_I want to show…" Leaf stopped. She wanted to show him Pallet Town, her home, and all of Kanto._

_But there was no Pallet Town here. There was no Kanto._

_That was just another world._

**andimleftshowingyouthedoor**

"Good night, Red," Leaf said.

"Good night, Leaf," he replied.

"I love you."

"I love you more."

"I love you most!" she shouted before he stepped out of her room with a wave.

She thought a moment.

The journey from Unova to Kanto probably would take four or five days.

One pill gave her one night.

She had to be there every step of the way with him like she always was.

She drank enough for the journey.

Added one more in case they'd encounter some trouble along the way.

**switchback**

"This is my home, Touya," Leaf said when they arrived over Pallet Town, looking down at it from the sky on her Charizard. "This is where I sleep."

Touya smiled. "It's a cute home."

"If we stop here, we can go through another journey, earn more badges, see more Pokémon!" Leaf exclaimed.

"Oh yeah?" Touya said, eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Mhm!" Leaf guaranteed.

"And you'll be by my side?"

"Always."

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><p><strong>thir13enth<strong>


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